Weightlifting Vs Other forms of training?

[CrakerJak]

Hey I'm 15 years old and I've been doing plyometrics and calisthenics for about an hour a day, 5 days a week now. I started about a year and a half ago with only 3 days a week and now moved to 5. I'm by far more toned than anyone I know lifting, and I feel like I'm faster and stronger than them. However I know many people put alot of emphasis on getting in the weightroom and hitting the bench among other things. My question is, do you think a dynamic workout is more effective than a static weightlifting one?

[pvlax02]

each of them has their own strengths. plyos and calisthenics can great improve coordination, balance, range of movement, etc. when youre lifting, for the most part anyway, you and trying to build bulk muscle and just get bigger. with calistenics and plyos doing high reps and using your own body weight over time will get you cut like you said you are due to the high number of reps for a lower weight.

In my mind there really is no clear winner. each has their own thing which makes them have advantages over the other. i do both because it just offers more work outs and extends my range of motion

[Goalie9]

Sorry for hijacking the thread but what exactly have you been doing for plyometrics and calisthenics

[Cburylax]

Hey I'm 15 years old and I've been doing plyometrics and calisthenics for about an hour a day, 5 days a week now. I started about a year and a half ago with only 3 days a week and now moved to 5. I'm by far more toned than anyone I know lifting, and I feel like I'm faster and stronger than them. However I know many people put alot of emphasis on getting in the weightroom and hitting the bench among other things. My question is, do you think a dynamic workout is more effective than a static weightlifting one?

What's a static weight lifting program?

I believe focusing on an athletic strength program which targets all three areas of the kinetic chain (neural, muscular, skeletal) and uses a periodization scheme including offseason, pre=season, in-season, and post-season is the way to go. If you only focuc on plyo's and calisthenics without working on your strength base, you are asking for injury and kinetic chain imbalances.

Sorry for hijacking the thread but what exactly have you been doing for plyometrics and calisthenics

then don't hijack the thread...send him a pm.

PS. Take a look here about a discussion on plyometrics.
http://www.lacrosseforums.com/showthread.php?t=107077

[LiquidMercury16]

each of them has their own strengths. plyos and calisthenics can great improve coordination, balance, range of movement, etc. when youre lifting, for the most part anyway, you and trying to build bulk muscle and just get bigger. with calistenics and plyos doing high reps and using your own body weight over time will get you cut like you said you are due to the high number of reps for a lower weight.

In my mind there really is no clear winner. each has their own thing which makes them have advantages over the other. i do both because it just offers more work outs and extends my range of motion

Why not have both? If you can be bigger faster and stronger then you are now why not do it? Sure you may have better abs right now but if you come up against someone who all else being the same is 40 lbs heavier then you but has the same speed/agility that you have gained also doing plyometrics then chances are he is going to whoop you up and down the field.

CB has it right about it training those three kinetic areas, all of which are important for lacrosse. Also as far as weight lifting goes, don't just lift for bench, lift for your whole body. You play lacrosse with your whole body, not just with your chest/triceps/rear delts.

[OldGoalie]

Based on what you do already, especially with a 5-day a week program, you could try something like Crossfit, which emphasizes whole body strength and conditioning. It mixes in olympic weightlifting, gymnastics and metabolic conditioning, and includes calisthenic and plyo type movements. Crossfit is a very general program that works well for all types of athletes, but you would want to add in some sport-specific training such as agility training to round it out for lax.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossfit

Crossfit has done wonders for me personally in terms of overall fitness, endurance and strength on the basketball court through fall/winter, and now back out on the lax field. It hasn't made me any bigger (though I haven't been increasing caloric intake and am not seeking to get a whole lot bigger at 6', 175), but it has definitely made me stronger by objective measures, and my endurance is way better than it was before when I was doing the more traditional 2-3 days of lifting + 2-3 days of "conventional" cardio per week. YMMV.